


glowing

by mirkwood131



Series: EXO Central [30]
Category: EXO (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, F/M, Horror, Kissing, M/M, Murder Mystery, Teen Romance, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 19:57:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15126779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirkwood131/pseuds/mirkwood131
Summary: A new police officer comes to the  small town to investigate the strange murder cases that have taken place.Baekhyun becomes infatuated with him and Chanyeol gets jealous.





	glowing

**Author's Note:**

> this was the best summary that i could come up with honestly.   
> anyways, this firat chapter has taken me an eternity to write as i've been busy with exams and haven't really been feeling like writing much.   
> anyways, hope you'll enjoy:)

"Sehunnie!!" the girl shouted.

  
The tall weeds were brushing on her bare feet as she was running through the cluster of trees that were getting closer and closer together; they looked like thin fingers, squeezing everything in between them. She looked back, at the lonely street lamp that marked the end of the last house and shrieked. The light bulb started blinking furiously until it stopped. Everything was plunged into the growing darkness.

  
"Sehun!" she yelled one more time and stopped.

  
The lamp started flickering again, slower than before. It was making the shadows grow wider.

  
She saw his shape approaching, dark as the trees, brushing the grass aside with both hands. He stopped right in front of her and intertwined their fingers.

  
"Your mom can't see us from here, can she?" he asked with a smirk.

  
She shook her head.

  
"It's scary over here." she said, stepping closer to him.

  
"It's just a little forest, dummy." he laughed.

  
Sehun brushed his fingers through her short black hair and then tugged at it.

  
"Ouch!"

  
"Don't you like it?" he laughed.

  
"Not like this." the girl said and pushed his hand down. "What are we doing over here, anyways?" she asked.

  
Sehun kept quiet for a moment as he looked up and down her body. He leaned down, closer and closer, until their lips touched. Hers tasted like artificial cherries. Sehun hated it. But that didn't stop him from biting down on her lower lip, shyly at first, but then hard. She yelped and kicked him in the chest with her fist.

  
He licked his lips. It tasted like blood.

  
"What the fuck?!" she said, stepping away.

  
"Come on, babe..."

  
"Sehun...I swear to God.” she said, shaking her head. “I'm not into whatever bullshit you think I am."

  
The girl kept stepping back until she hit a tree with her back.

  
"Calm down, Yeri. Stop making so much noise." Sehun said.  
He strode towards her and covered her mouth with his hand.

  
"We don't want to get caught." he whispered and took his palm off.

  
"I want to go home." she said after a while.

  
She was bracing herself with both arms, looking down at the muddy shoes. It had rained all day and all night.

  
"You said that we are going to do this."

  
"Well...I've changed my mind." Yeri said.

  
He kissed her again, rougher, thrusting his hips up until he felt himself hardening underneath the fabric of his jeans. The girl tensed underneath him. She bit his lip and kicked. Hard, a couple of times, until he backed off.

  
"Bitch!" he said and brushed his fingers over his lower lip. "It's fucking bleeding."

  
"I'm going home." Yeri said and turned around to leave.

  
"Did you hear that?" the boy asked, suddenly looking towards the denser, darker part of the forest that was surrounding them.

  
"What?"

  
"That." he said.

  
It sounded exactly like the cracking of a dry tree branch when something steps onto it, letting all those bugs and worms crawl on the wet ground. One more time. The same cracking sound. Then it stopped.

  
"It's a forest, you dummy.” the girl smirked, stepping away from the tree. “There are real animals here, not just pigs. Like you." Yeri said, looking straight at Sehun.

  
"Watch your mouth."

  
"You watch it!" the girl said and took a step to the left, towards the path back to the last house.

"I'm going home."

  
He grabbed her wrist and pulled. Yeri fell on the ground, right in the cold mud that splattered all over her face, clothes, inch of skin.

  
Another crack, closer to where they were standing, and Sehun looked once again to his left.  
"Are you out of your mind?!" she screamed. "I'm-I'm..." she mumbled and stood up on shaky feet.

  
He heard a rustle between the trees and bushes and the cracks had intensified. There was a rustling in the foliage and then, silence once again. They both looked at the tall weeds and saw two yellow, glowing eyes staring right at them.

  
"What the fuck is that?!" he yelled.

  
"I don't care you nut job, but I'm getting out here." Yeri said.  
She started running, without looking back to see Sehun's foot getting stuck in a root as he started following her. He fell face down in the dirt.

  
Another crack, much closer to him and when he tried to stand up, something pushed him back. His face got smashed into the ground, being pressed harder and harder until he couldn't breathe anymore. He let out a couple of snorting sounds as only the dirt was getting into his lungs. Everything turned black as his fingers grabbed at the grass, digging into the ground.  
When Yeri reached the street lamp, she looked back. But she couldn't see anything as the small forest was covered by shadows. The sun had almost set.

  
She jumped over the fence and fell to her knees. It was silence. There were only some crickets and a bird chirping in a tree.

  
"Fuck." Yeri mumbled. "Sehun!!" she yelled.

  
There came no response. The darkness was growing thicker and the street lamp flickered again. "Sehun!!"

  
Came no response. The bird had stopped singing as well as the crickets. She saw that the lights in the house were glowing yellow on the ground. Yeri almost walked towards it but then stopped.

  
"Sehun..." she whispered.   
Yeri turned around to look at the forest, but it was one with the black sky. "Sehun!" she yelled one more time.

  
Something cracked near where she was standing. It almost felt like another being was breathing so close to her ear that she could almost feel the warmth on her skin. She jumped and then, started running.

  
The wind was brushing past her, slowly her down until, at some point she had to stop. On each side of the dirt road there were houses with cheerful lights that were breaking the darkness apart. The girl glanced around. It was quiet. No sounds, not even the birds or the crickets. Fully dark. Then, she glanced back. The girl had hoped that she would see Sehun walking towards her but instead, between some bushes, she saw the same yellow eyes staring right at her.   
Yeri started running again. The scream was caught in her throat as her lungs were burning.

  
When she reached the main road, with all the noises and cars passing past her, Yeri crouched down. She breathed out, feeling herself calm down. The panic that she had felt the entire way was beginning to die down. Except for her clammy hands and booming heartbeat echoing in her ears, she felt fine.

  
"Yeri?"

  
"Kyungsoo." the girl yelped, falling on her behind.

  
"Have you been running?" he asked, laughing as he extended one arm to help her stand up.  
Yeri grabbed it, but it took her a couple of tries until she was entirely sitting up.

  
"A little. I-I'm..." she paused.

  
Yeri took a breathe in.

"Exercising is good for...you know." she said.

  
"I see." he laughed. "Were you running with Sehun?"

  
"What are you doing around? School day and all...senior and exams and..." she blubbered, thinking again at the silence that followed each of her shouts of Sehun's name.

  
Then she glanced back, at the small dirt road, feeling as if those yellow eyes were watching her again.

  
"Yeri. Are you alright?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You are acting funny.”

  
"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" she laughed.

  
"You seem...scared."

  
"No. I'm fine. Just tired. From the running." she said, trying to smile but it came out crooked.

  
The hand remained on her shoulder and she was thankful for that.

  
She came back to the thought that Sehun hadn't answered her calls. And everything had been so quiet in the forest.

  
And those eyes.

  
“I-I...I got to tell you something but promise that you won't tell anyone about it." Yeri said.

  
"Alright."

  
"I was with Sehun. Alright? And-and...he's been trying to...so I ran. But there were some sounds in the forest. Like there was someone there. And eyes. Yellow and...so I left. But he didn't..." she whispered. “Or I’m not sure...”

  
"Maybe he pulled a prank on you." Kyungsoo said.

  
"A prank when all that he wanted was to..."

  
"I'm not sure. But we'll see tomorrow. Don't worry yourself too much." Kyungsoo said and touched her arm again.

  
"You say?"

  
"Yes. Of course." he said, smiling at her.

  
///

  
Yeri woke up in the middle of the night, panting and sweaty. The sheets had stuck to her body, so she threw them away.

They fell on the floor.

  
She stood up and walked towards the window.  
It was all quiet and static. Then, she thought that she saw one of the bushes moving. She squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again. There, among the small leaves and branches, there were two yellow, gleaming eyes staring straight at her. They had no irises, but without a doubt, they looked like eyes.

  
Yeri fell on the floor. She tried to grab the curtains but they were slipping from between her fingers each time. It seemed like the door knob moved. She held her breathe and waited. It twisted with a screech.

  
"Yeri? What are you doing on the floor?"

  
"No-nothing." the girl whispered and opened her eyes.

  
She had been holding her breathe the whole time.  
"Max was barking so much at the window that I had to wake up and calm him down." the woman said.

  
"Mom. Can I sleep in your room tonight?" Yeri asked.

  
"Sure...honey, are you really alright?" her mother asked.

  
"Yes. Just a bad dream." Yeri whispered.

  
She stood up and with her eyes closed, she shut the curtains. But then, as a push, the girl glanced trough the small opening between them. There was nothing in the bushes.

  
///

  
"Yeri. What did you do to Sehun yesterday?" a boy that was passing by her asked.

  
She dug her head deeper into her locker and closed her eyes.

  
"Hey...you good?"

  
"Kyungsoo." she said, turning around to look at the boy.

"Yeah...I'm just..." she shrugged.

  
"I called Sehun. This morning." he said.

  
"And?"

  
"His mother answered."

  
"What have..."

  
"His mom called the police Yeri." Kyungsoo said. “He didn’t return home last night.”

  
"They'll think that I did something to him. I didn't Kyungsoo, I didn't. I just ran away and I couldn't see anything and..."

  
"Calm down. I believe you." the boy laughed and then wrapped an arm around her body.

  
"But what if the police doesn't believe me and they think...there was someone there..." she whispered. "I know it. I saw it last night. In front of my house." she said in a whisper.

  
"We could go there. See if there is anything..."

  
"Would you do that for me?!" she asked.

  
The boy only nodded. Yeri placed her head on his chest and breathed out.

  
///

  
It was past noon when they were walking on the dirt road, down to the small forest. There were only a couple of houses on each side of it, old and covered in weeds. The ground was wet and slippery as it had rained the entire morning.  
Yeri was right behind Kyungsoo, both still having their backpacks on. She glanced back, at the indentations of her feet in the mud.

  
"Have you heard anything about him?" she asked.

  
Kyungsoo shook his head.   
"My parents said that the police is still waiting." he said.

  
Yeri could already see the contours of the forest, the tall bushes and the grass, the opening in the vegetation, exactly where they had been standing the other night.

  
"Maybe...maybe I should give a declaration or something." she said.

  
"Maybe..."

  
But the thought seemed dangerous, floating images of grey bars and women with their heads shaved. Her own hair shaved. All the small hairs on her body raised in protest and she touched her head.

Suddenly, she wanted to go back.

  
They both stopped when the first line of trees was right in front of them.

  
"The rain surely cleaned everything." Kyungsoo said.

  
"That's where I saw the eyes." Yeri pointed at a bush.

  
It seemed smaller, almost mockingly so in the broad daylight.

  
"Maybe they were only flowers." Kyungsoo said and walked up to it. "See?" he asked, touching one, big yellow one.

  
"Maybe..." she whispered.

  
"Yeri." the boy said. "You should come see this. Promise me that you won't scream."

  
"Wha-what is it?" she whispered and slowly stepped closer and closer to him.

  
"Loo-look up." he said.

  
And Yeri looked up. The scream froze on her lips.

  
"Se-Sehun." she whispered. "Sehun..."

  
"Calm down...calm down..." Kyungsoo whispered to her and held her hand, tightly into his.

  
"Sehun." Yeri said, louder.

"Sehun!" she shouted.

  
Her entire body was shaking as she kept staring at the hanging corpse on the tree branch. His head was laying in an unnatural position as his hands seemed to be tied at his back. The branch was screeching when the wind started blowing; his feet began to lazily dangle in the air.

  
"He's dead." she mumbled.

"He's just dead."

  
"I need to find a public phone, alright? To call the police." Kyungsoo said.

  
"Okay. Okay."

  
"You...stay here."

  
"I won't stay here." Yeri yelled. "He's...dead."

  
"Then come with me. But hurry." the boy said; the hold on her fingers tightened and Yeri breathed out.

  
They both started running through the thick vegetation, back to the dirt road, between those old houses and Yeri glanced at the forest, almost expecting to see those yellow eyes staring back at her. But they weren't.  
She couldn't see anymore the body, dangling from the tree branch like an old swing blown by the wind.

  
Then, she tripped on a root.   
"Come on. We got to tell the police." Kyungsoo said and urged her to stand up.

  
But her feet weren't listening as they felt like gelatine, wiggling without purpose.

  
"Yeri."

  
"I can't. Sehun is dead and they are going to blame me for this." she said, bursting into tears.   
But the tears fell short, even though her throat and eyes have been soaring for a while. There was a low pounding in the back of her head. The tears stopped just as quickly as they had started.

  
She finally stood up and this time, Kyungsoo was being slower. For some reason, as they kept on walking, she grew calmer and calmer.

  
In the sunlight, the sweat on the back of his head was dimly shinning. Yeri thought that she had known him since she could barely walk. Everyone in the small town knew each other, as they were only a handful of families and even fewer ones with teenage off springs.  
Her, Kyungsoo, Sehun, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Joy and Yoora. All 7 of them.   
They had always stuck together, even though sometimes she couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it was the closeness of their houses or the one given by age. All her memories were filled with them, with Kyungsoo, with Sehun, with the rest. Yeri shook her head and grabbed harder at the boy’s hand. It was warm and reassuring.

  
They had eventually reached the main street, with nicer houses and less vegetation. Another 100 meters and right in front of the only supermarket there would be the public phone.

  
She watched Kyungsoo insert the coins into the machine, one after one, a clinking sound right after each. Then he pressed on the buttons and Yeri saw the body in front of her, dangling from the top of the public phone poll. It was grinning at her.

  
She turned around. Almost bumped into someone.

  
"Sorry." she whispered.

  
"Did you hear?"

  
"What?"

  
"Sehun. He's missing. His parents called the police this morning."

  
"Sehun is dead." Yeri said after a pause.

  
She wasn’t even sure who she was talking with. Could have been anyone. Could be the killer, she suddenly thought.

  
"How do you know?"

  
"Because I saw him hanging in a tree, Joy." the girl said. "In the forest."

  
Joy laughed.

  
"You must be kidding, right?"

  
"The police said-Joy." Kyungsoo said; he started staring at the girl while keeping silent.

  
"Did you hear what Yeri said? Sehun. Dead." Joy said, glancing from one to another. "Are you two joking me right now, aren't you? Weren't you and Sehun last night about to get it on?" Joy asked and Yeri slapped her over the face.  
The sound reverberated and she could feel her hand beginning to pound. Lightly at first but then harder and harder, as if she had been the one being hit.

  
"You-you..." Joy mumbled, touching her cheek.

  
It had turned a deep shade of red in the shape of the other girl's fingers.

  
"Slapped me."

  
"Why would you say that?! I've only told you about it for a reason!" Yeri yelled.

  
"Yeri..." Kyungsoo whispered.  
He touched her arm but the girl brushed him away.

  
"This is all your fault!" Joy said.

"If Sehun really is dead...maybe you killed him."

  
"Shut up." Kyungsoo said. "Just shut the fuck up."

  
"You know what?! Screw you both." the girl yelled and left.  
Yeri breathed out but she didn't feel any relief.

  
"The police is on its way."

Kyungsoo said after a while.  
He touched the back of her hand and Yeri looked down. Then up, at his face.

  
She wondered why he was doing all of that for her. When he had no reason after all. They weren't that good of friends in the end. Barely talking, mostly about school and projects. None of them were that close.   
But she slowly intertwined her fingers with his and waited.

  
"Are they...where are they..."

  
"First to the crime scene." Kyungsoo said. "Then...I've only told them that we've found the body."

  
"I'm scared..." Yeri said and squeezed his hand harder.  
He looked down at her and slowly, kissed her on the forehead.

  
///

  
When morning came, she couldn't remember the night. At every creak she would have startled. But the police hadn't come. Not yet.

  
Yeri had been standing on a chair at the kitchen table, with a book in her lap. Unopened. Just staring at the bright cover.   
There was a knock at the door and she stared right at its wooden shape. Her mother opened it and then she saw the police officers, in their blue uniforms, looking at her.  
She just wanted to yell that she was innocent.

  
"Mrs. Kim?"

  
"Yes."

  
"I'm here to talk to your daughter, Kim Yerim." the first man said.

  
He was still looking at her, seeing through her blank expression. The body was still dangling in her mind, those feet and that rope that hadn't looked like one.

  
Her mother let them in and her stomach twisted in a knot.

  
"Hello. I'm officer Kim Junmyeon. I want to talk to you about Oh Sehun."

  
"Yes." Yeri whispered.

  
"You and Do Kyungsoo were the ones who found the body yesterday, at around 4pm?" the man asked as he pulled a small notebook from his pocket.

  
"Yes."

  
"How did you know that you would find him there?"

  
Yeri looked around, back at her mother, and suddenly, the knot became bigger. First, of the size of her head, and then larger and larger. Until it would explode into big, red chunks that would stick to everything.

  
"Come on. You can tell me." the man said, trying to smile.  
She had seen him around the town, taking cats from trees or things like that. But never being in charge of such thing.

  
"That's where we would usually hang out." she said. "It was quiet."

  
"Who would hang out there?"

  
"Me. Sehun. Kyungsoo..." she made a pause and looked back at her mother who smiled at her. "Joy. Yoora. Chanyeol. Baekhyun."

  
"I understand. Thank you, Miss. Kim." the man said.

  
"My daughter didn't do anything. My daughter Yerim-"

  
"M'am. These are just some routine questions. Your daughter isn't accused of anything." the man said and Yeri almost expected him to say "yet".

  
But he didn't. He just left with the other officer and Yeri breathed out. It seemed to simple.

 

///

 

The first she had ever met was Baekhyun. He had moved right across her house and quite literally, stumbled into her life. He had opened the front door and just had stood in the lobby, looking around before her mother had come out of the kitchen.

  
Then he had become a regular in the house. She had met the rest afterwards, one by one.

Less unpredictably.

 

///

  
"You could cry, you know. I cried too." Baekhyun said to her as they were both sitting on her bed.

  
"I can't. I thought that I can, but I can’t." she said, glancing through the window.

  
"Joy told me. About the slap." Baekhyun said.

  
"Of course she would." Yeri huffed."

  
"I thought you guys were friends."

  
"In theory." Yeri said. "Not like you and Chanyeol and Kyungsoo and..." she whispered.

  
"I can't belive that he just...died. You saw the body." Baekhyun suddenly said. "How did it look?"

  
"Horrible." Yeri said and stood up.

  
She walked towards the window and looked between the curtains. Through the bushes, she thought that she saw those yellow eyes once again. But she didn’t.

  
"Will the police question us like they do in the movies?" Baekhyun asked.

  
"They might question me." Yeri said and shut the curtains close.

  
"Why?"

  
She shrugged and sat on the bed.

  
"I wonder who could have done it. A lot of people didn't like him." Baekhyun said. "No one in our group, of course. Maybe there's a serial killer around." the boy said.

  
"Stop joking like this. It's serious." Yeri said.

  
"Yeri!! The phone!!"

  
"Coming!" the girl said and starting running down the hallway.

  
///

  
"I don't like your idea." Baekhyun said. "That's why there is the police."

  
"Joy is fine." Yeri said.

"Plus...we've been into that forest so many times." the girl continued. “This time isn’t any different.”

  
The vegetation was beginning to get denser and denser and even though she didn't want to admit it, she could feel her heart beat getting faster.

  
"Not since..." Baekhyun whispered. "Let's return."

  
He stopped in the middle of the path and looked back. "It's getting really dark too."

  
"Joy is alright and there is no serial killer." Yeri said. "Come on."

  
She grabbed his wrist and dragged him forward.  
Already, in the distance, they could see the black contours of the trees on the red sky dotted with yellow clouds. Her palms were getting cold and sweaty, but she didn't stop. Something rustled on their left.

  
"Did you hear that?!" Baekhyun asked.

  
"It's just a squirrel." the girl said.  
Since she had seen the boy hanging, she couldn't stop thinking about going back. It had been like an itch that he couldn’t scratch. She just needed to see the place for herself one more time.   
When they reached the entrance, they stopped.

  
"Okay. We are here. There's nothing and-" then, the girl covered his mouth with her hand.

  
"Sht." she whispered.

  
Something was rustling and cracking, exactly from beneath those trees that hid the body. Yeri made a step forward, then another one. It was sounding like the bark was being hit by something metallic. The bushes suddenly rustled and moved and after another step, she stopped.

  
"Oh my..." she whispered. "Baekhyun."

  
A chain was knotted on a branch and dangling from it, there was a body.

  
"Fuck!" he shouted. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Yeri! Fuck this shit." he continued.

  
"We're going to die...to die."

  
Yeri stepped closer to the body, staring right at those dangling feet. They looked like the ones of a doll's and when she touched them, they were still warm.

  
"Baekhyun!" she said. "Help me get her out. She might be still alive."

  
The chain was tight around her neck and the girl's face was almost a bluish grey colour. Her eyes were staring into the distance. Bloodshot. Her mouth was agape.

  
"Help me." she said.

  
"I'm getting out of here...I'm getting out of here." Baekhyun kept mumbling.

  
"Then go and call the police." she said.

  
"You will not stay here." Baekhyun said. "Whoever did this...might come back."

  
"Call for help! Now!" Yeri yelled.

"Now!"

  
So Baekhyun started running, looking back at her shape that was getting smaller and smaller through those trees.  
It was quiet afterwards.  
She tried to climb up the tree but every time, her foot would slip and she'd fall down on the ground.

  
The bushes and greenery rustled again, but there was no wind.

  
Yeri glanced at them and at first, she couldn't see anything.  
Then, those big yellow eyes started glowing once again in the darkness. They almost seemed artificial. Yeri stepped back until she hit the body. The girl yelped.

  
She fell down, in the mud. Her breathe was caught in the chest as one of Joy's shoes kept hitting her in the head.  
Then, she looked down and saw, covered in some mud, a golden key chain in the shape of a lizard. Suddenly, it all doomed on her.

  
The bushes rustled once again but Yeri didn't scream. Instead, she watched the black figure as it stepped closer and closer to her.

  
It crouched next to her on the ground and the eyes stopped glowing. One gloved hand touched her chin and then gently, ran across her neck. She shivered but didn’t dare say anything.

  
Then, it all turned black.

 

///

  
"Joy. We've found her hung in the forest. Like Sehun." Baekhyun yelled into the public phone.

  
He hung up after a while and fell on the concrete. His heart was booming in his chest and he had yet to catch his breathe. At first, he hadn't wanted to believe that Sehun was really dead.

  
But then, seeing Joy with his own eyes, lifeless, staring blankly into space he felt like puking.

  
The liquid came out hot and transparent.

  
He didn't know for how long he had been just sitting on the ground when someone stopped in front of him.

  
"Baekhyun?"

  
"Mrs. Kim." he whispered.

  
He then remembered where he had left Yeri. Alone, in the forest, with a corpse next to her.

  
"Have you seen Yeri? You two left a while ago but then...and Joy's mum called me to ask if Joy was with Yeri. But it was just the two of you."

  
Baekhyun looked up at her and then down at his small puddle of vomit. He felt like a coward.   
"I don't know." he said and stood up. "I got to go. Yeri should be home by now."

  
Somehow, he was certain that she was not. That Yeri was still there, waiting for him in the forest. And he hadn't even thought about her.

  
So he started running, back on the way that he had come. But then, he turned around and walked towards the opposite direction.

  
His steps were small but fast and eventually, he started running again; lungs burning and throat clenching around just air.

  
He stopped in front of a green door and furiously knocked until it opened.

  
"Easy or you'll break the door, cowboy." a man said to him.

  
"Hello, Mr. Park. Is Chanyeol home?" Baekhyun asked.

  
"Hello to you too. Yes, he is. Still ill like an old dog." the man laughed. "I've heard about what happened to your friend, Sehun. Horrible, horrible thing." the man said, shaking his head as they both kept standing in the doorframe.

  
"Can I see him?" the boy asked, trying too peek inside the hallway.

  
"Sure. If you don't mind getting sick too."

  
He stepped inside the house, glanced one more time at the man and then ran up the stairs. At this point, he knew the house by heart.

  
"Chanyeol." he said as he opened the door.

  
Inside, it smelled like cough medicine and sickness. That's why Baekhyun had never fancied going to any hospital, not even when it was about family. It made him think of death and rotting flesh.

  
Joy's limp body flashed again before his eyes and the same stale taste of vomit came back. He had to grab the doorframe to stabilize himself.

  
"Heeey..." Chanyeol said, his voice deeper than usual.

  
"I won't come in." Baekhyun said.

  
"I know."

  
"You good?"

  
Chanyeol shrugged.

  
"I think about him too." the boy said.

  
"It's just that...this shit isn't supposed to happen to us, you know? It only happens in those movies and books and...it's never close to home." Chanyeol said, looking straight at Baekhyun.

  
"I left Yeri in the forest. Alone." Baekhyun rapidly said; he almost bit his tongue.

  
He felt like everybody already knew about him running away. Leaving her alone, with a corpse, in the almost darkness.

He shivered.

  
"What?!"

  
"I-I..." Baekhyun whispered.

  
Then, he looked down the hallway. It was empty. He stepped inside the room and closed the door.

  
"I went with Yeri to the forest to search for Joy. She said that she was sure. So we went and she was there. Like Sehun. Dead." Baekhyun said.

  
"What are you actually talking about?"

  
"And then I left and she...she remained there but I called the cops and told them but-but..."

  
"Joy is dead too?" Chanyeol asked.

  
Baekhyun nodded.

  
"This can't be real."

  
"It is. I saw her with my own eyes. Dead." Baekhyun whispered the last words.

  
"Baekhyun. What are you talking about?!" Chanyeol asked once again.

  
But then, the phone rang and Baekhyun startled. His heart started beating faster and he was certain that they were all looking for him. Guilty. He could already see Yeri's body hanging right in the same tree and the prison cars and police officers asking him questions.

  
"Baekhyun."

  
"Why is the phone ringing?" he asked.

  
"Calm down. Hey...calm down." the boy said.

  
The door was suddenly opened and a girl got inside.

  
"They found Joy in the forest. Hung. And Yeri. She was still alive but they had to resuscitate her so they aren't sure if she'll...survive."

  
"How do you know?" Baekhyun asked.

  
"Didn't you hear the phone?! Dad is friends with the police officer so he called him to say the news. Gosh. I wish I remained in Boston for the summer." the girl said with a huff.

  
"Shut up." Chanyeol said and threw a pillow at her.

  
"Dad said that we can't leave the house for anything but school now." the girl said.

  
"Yoora. Would you just shut the fuck up?!" Chanyeol shouted and the girl threw back the pillow at him.

  
"I'm telling mum about this." she said and turned around on her heels.

  
Shut the door close after her with a thud and Baekhyun shrieked.

  
"I'll go to jail." Baekhyun whispered.

  
"No, you won't."

  
"I have no alibi." the boy said.

  
"Yes, you sure do. You couldn't have killed Joy. Or Sehun." Chanyeol said.

  
"How do you know?" Baekhyun asked, leaning on the door.

  
He thought that he might just slip away onto the floor and just sit there, staring at the ceiling while he didn't know how to feel. The guilt seemed to be worse than anything.

  
"Because I know you. And you are a good person, Baekhyun." Chanyeol said, no, smiled and the boy walked closer to him.

  
"Can you hug me?" he asked and didn't wait for the answer.  
He just sat on the bed and slowly wrapped his arms around the other's torso. His head came to rest on his chest and Baekhyun sighed.

  
Then he felt Chanyeol's hand coming to rest on the small of his back.

  
After he had met Yeri, he had then met Chanyeol. In the rusty park with two swings and one sandbox.

  
"Have you thought about dying?" Baekhyun asked.

  
"Why would I think about that?"

  
"Because...everybody is dying and I haven't done that much stuff...I've never even left this place." Baekhyun said.

  
He sighed and pressed his face into the t-shirt.

  
"Does it sound selfish?"

  
"I don't think so..."

  
"And I still want to be in love with someone." Baekhyun whispered.

  
Chanyeol laughed and ran his fingers through his hair.

  
"I miss Sehun." he said.

  
"Me too..." the other boy sighed.

  
"I should go home." Baekhyun said and motioned to stand up but Chanyeol held his hand.

  
"You could sleep over...tomorrow there's no school too and..." Chanyeol mumbled. "Now it's dangerous to be alone at night. Dad can call your parents."

  
"Alright." Baekhyun nodded.  
He couldn’t imagine himself standing in the darkness of his room anyways.

 

///

 

The morning came gloomy and foggy. Not at all like one in the middle of May.

  
Baekhyun shifted in his sleep and hit something solid and warm. He opened his eyes.  
Chanyeol's sleeping face was right before him, all his features relaxed and calm. His fingers gently traced its contours and then, pinched one of his ears.

  
"Uhmmm..." the boy mumbled and opened his eyes. "Morng."  
"What's that?" Baekhyun laughed.

  
Chanyeol yawned and stretched his body. One of his arms almost slapped Baekhyun over his face, so the boy just pushed the other.

  
"You turd!"

  
"Heeey..." Chanyeol said.  
"You were about to destroy my face." Baekhyun said and kicked him.

  
Chanyeol kicked back, and then Baekhyun did it again and afterwards Chanyeol until they both burst out in laughter and stopped.

  
He could feel the light rain knocking on the window and some yellow and red lights mixing with the fog. Then, the noise of the sirens came and Baekhyun froze.

  
His heart started beating faster and he thought about the bodies hanging in that tree. And about Yeri and her story about those yellow eyes.

  
A knock on the door.

  
"Kiddos. Come on. Breakfast." he heard Chanyeol father's voice.

  
"I'm starving." the boy said and stood up from the bed.  
Those lights kept flickering through the window still.

  
"Come on or I'm going to kick your ass." Chanyeol said and hit Baekhyun in his ribs.

  
The boy winced in pain and threw a pillow towards the other. But it only fell onto the floor.

  
"Come on!" Chanyeol said and opened the door.

  
Baekhyun followed him down the stairs, feeling his heart beating faster and faster.

  
At the kitchen table, with a newspaper in front of him, he saw the police officer. He gulped down and slowed his pace.

  
"Chanyeol!" the man said. "You grew up too fast!"

  
"That's Baekhyun. His friend." the boy's father said.

  
"Oh. Well, then it is fantastic. Hitting two birds with a stone." he laughed and pulled out a small notebook from one of the pockets of his uniform.

  
"Is it about the murder cases?"

  
"Right." the officer nodded.

"Just some formalities. The killer is probably a drug addict or a nut from some hospital." he continued.

  
Baekhyun kept looking at him and then at the notebook.

  
"Last night. Between 5pm and 9pm, where have you been..."

  
"Byun Baekhyun. That's his full name." Chanyeol's father said.

  
"Right." the officer laughed.

  
"Around 8pm I cam to Chanyeol's place and we have been sitting in his room." Baekhyun said, feeling his heart beat right in his ears.

  
He glanced at Chanyeol and then back at the officer.

  
"And before."

  
"I was at home. The whole time." Baekhyun rapidly said.  
Chanyeol looked at him and opened his mouth to say something but quickly, Baekhyun grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He remained silent.

  
"Alright. Thank you." the officer smiled. "As I said. Just some formalities. If the girl wakes up, the case is as solved."

  
"And will she wake up?" Baekhyun asked.

  
He thought that his voice sounded too thin.

  
"Who knows lad? It's one heck of a coma." the officer said.

  
"They are all good kids. This year they'll go to college."

Chanyeol's father said, looking at both boys.

  
They smiled, but Baekhyun’s slipped from his face.

 

///

 

"You lied." Chanyeol said.

  
"That wasn't called lying. I simply just..."

  
"That was lying!" the boy snapped.

  
"Then they'll think that I'm guilty."  
"Now they'll think that you are guilty." Chanyeol said as they were both walking on the hallway that smelled like chlorine and disinfectant.

  
"If they find out. I panicked, alright?" Baekhyun said when they stopped in front of a white door.

  
"Baekhyun. Chanyeol." a woman that immediately stood up from a plastic chair said to them.  
She hugged both of them, tightly and shakily, before she took a couple of steps back and measured them up and down.

  
"Kyungsoo is already inside. He's been by her side the entire morning. Poor child." the woman said.

  
She took a napkin from her purse and proceeded to blow her nose. The noise was too loud for the silence of the hallway.

  
"I thought that Irene might come too..." she said after a while. "She and Yeri..."

  
"Irene's parents don't let her leave the house since..." Chanyeol whispered and the woman suddenly burst out in tears.

  
Baekhyun made a step forward but then he stopped. He glanced at the white door and everything seemed a little bit too bright. A little too loud and surreal.

  
Yeri couldn't be in a coma, could she?

  
And the rest?!

  
"Go on. Don't pay attention to me." the woman said while she kept covering her face with the same tissue.

  
Chanyeol stepped towards the door and pushed down on the knob. It opened with a squeaky creak.

  
Chanyeol looked back at Baekhyun and the boy finally left his spot.

  
The room was small and empty, except for a bed and some machines. On a chair, right next to the bed, there was Kyungsoo, holding the girl's hand.

  
"Hey..."

  
"Hey...how is she?" Chanyeol asked.

  
"Stable. But..." Kyungsoo whispered.

  
"She'll wake up. Yeri must wake up." Baekhyun said.

  
His voice sounded loud in his own ears.

  
"Will she?" Kyungsoo asked and glanced at him. "The murderer tried to kill her the same way as he did with Sehun and Joy." he continued.

  
"Stop it." Baekhyun whispered.

  
"Maybe he'll try to kill us too."  
Baekhyun shook his head.

  
"Kyungsoo..." Chanyeol said, placing a hand on Baekhyun's shoulder.

  
"I mean...you were the last one who's been with Yeri." Kyungsoo said.

  
Baekhyun shook his head once again and looked at the girl on the bed. She didn't look much like the Yeri he had always known, with the oxygen mask covering half of her face and all of those little tubes coming out of her pale arms. Everything was pale about her. An unhealthy one, with spots and marks of purple and green all over the uncovered skin.  
"Why do you say that Baekhyun was the last to hang out with Yeri?" Chanyeol suddenly asked.

  
Baekhyun didn't even hear him.

  
"Yeri told me. On the phone. That they would hang out at her house." Kyungsoo said. "How else would I know?"

  
Chanyeol shrugged.

  
Baekhyun walked towards the bed and touched her hand. It was almost cold and the boy gently squeezed it. Joy's body seemed to be dangling from the room's ceiling, limp and heavy, barely hanging on the thin air.

  
He shivered. It felt like so many bugs were crawling up his skin, right from her hand.

  
"Can we leave?" Baekhyun suddenly asked. "I want to leave." he said and stepped back.

  
"Fine." Chanyeol said. "Let's go."   
He looked back one more time at Kyungsoo, who took his spot, right next to Yeri’s bed.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> comments are well loved:)


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